Boxing champion George Kambosos Jr intends to team up with UFC champ and fellow Aussie Alexander Volkanovski.
Unified lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr has been making his presence felt since his incredible upset win over Teofimo Lopez Jr last month. He was ringside for Devin Haney vs. JoJo Diaz and Gervonta Davis vs. Isaac Cruz this past weekend, and has made a host of media appearances.
The 28-year-old had to wait a long time just for the Lopez fight to happen given the numerous postponements and the eventual switch from Triller to Matchroom Boxing/DAZN, but in the end he’s the latest Australian to become a world champion in combat sports. In an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Kambosos revealed his relationship with UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and that they’ll soon be training together.
“I’m a very good fan of the UFC. I love the sport, I love combat sport. And me and Alex have a good relationship as well,” Kambosos Jr. said (via MMA Fighting). “He’s been supporting me, I’ve been supporting him, and I said I’m going to come back with all these belts — obviously he’s the UFC featherweight king and I’m the lightweight king, and we’re going to help each other. And how good would that be?
Kambosos Jr (20-0, 10 KOs) was a massive underdog against Lopez, but he scored an early round knockdown, survived a 10th round knockdown, and prevailed by split decision to become the WBA, WBO, and IBF lightweight champion in one of the biggest upsets in recent boxing history. He also received a career-high purse of just over $1.5 million.
George expanded a bit on the benefits of training with Volkanovski, and even teased we might see him in MMA.
“We’re going to organize that when I get back and we’re going to do a few things together, and like I said, sharpen up,” Kambosos Jr said. “His hands are super sharp already, but a little bit more always helps. And he’s going to sharpen up my inside game and my clinch game. And who knows, you might see me make my UFC debut in the near future. He might be boxing real soon. You never know.”
Obviously in the meantime Kambosos has important matters to deal with in boxing’s stacked lightweight division.